Instead of applying the mdd data of one object to another, I would like to use morph data.

Celshader

10 October 2004, 06:45 PM

Is there a moprh equivalent of FX_MetaLink?

Instead of applying the mdd data of one object to another, I would like to use morph data.
Apply ClothFX to the morphing parent object, and use FX_Scan (in the File tab) to bake its deformations out as an MDD file. Save the MDD file. The child object will now match the parent object, if the child object has MetaLink applied.

I think Splinegod may know a more efficient technique than this one, though.

ColinCohen

10 October 2004, 06:54 PM

Thanks, Jennifer.

SplineGod

10 October 2004, 11:29 PM

Or you can just apply SoftFX to the object and hit the calc button without doing anything else. Parent your main object to your lowrez object and apply metalink to the highrez object.

ColinCohen

10 October 2004, 11:33 PM

Thanks.

I tried Jennifer's approach and it worked very well. But your approach may be a tad faster.

HowardM

10 October 2004, 06:16 AM

woohoo! I LOVE IT!
:p

gerardo

10 October 2004, 08:13 AM

Yeah! nice trick :thumbsup:

Gerardo

mav3rick

10 October 2004, 08:22 AM

i was recently in need to bake animation to .mdd file and play it off to avoid any bones and ik in scene. but i was not able to get after motion or after displacement subd order that i need for frpime ... any idea?
or let's say mdd play dont eaven work without LAST turned on and metalink didnt show up corect if not last turned on also

ColinCohen

10 October 2004, 01:49 PM

i was recently in need to bake animation to .mdd file and play it off to avoid any bones and ik in scene. but i was not able to get after motion or after displacement subd order that i need for frpime ... any idea?
or let's say mdd play dont eaven work without LAST turned on and metalink didnt show up corect if not last turned on also
This is a problem that drove me nuts. The solution is to play the mdd file with the MetaPlug plugin and turn KEY-MOVE "On". Then, you must delete any keys on the target object (of course, save your file before attempting this.) You may also have to unparent it. Once this is done, you can set the subd order to "After Motion".

SplineGod

10 October 2004, 01:49 AM

Hey Colin, HERES (http://www.3dtrainingonline.com/examples/tentacles.mov)an example of using softfx the way I was describing. I was always looking for a way to have things morph based on distance to an object but not have the object distort while morphing. In this instance the tentacles morph but they maintain their volume. This brings up a lot of new interesting possibilities. :)

ColinCohen

10 October 2004, 02:30 AM

Very nice.

By the way, the SoftFX->Calc method turned out to be quite a bit faster than the ClothFX->Scan Motion method. Many thanks.

SplineGod

10 October 2004, 03:44 AM

I sort of banged all that out in a couple of hours but its very promising.
I got the idea from a Moebius graphic novel (Arzak) where he is flying over a valley full of these tentacles that reach up for him as he flies by. The new dynamics in LW allow for alot more things that can be done even outiside the dynamics part per se. :)

pooby

10 October 2004, 10:13 AM

If you want to do this kind of stuff easily, use smartmorph.

Its achieved in seconds and gives you the abitity to layer up these kind of effects. Ie. to have the tentacles thrash about also and randomise their behaviour.

SplineGod

10 October 2004, 09:27 PM

This was pretty easy to setup actually. What Im wondering is how smart morph would know to morph every point in the tentacle at the same time so you get the morph without individual points morphing before others. I need the volume of the tentacle to stay more or less the same and keep its integrity while morphing up. If you set a gradient based on distance to an object individual points in the tentacle will be closer to the reference object then other points meaning they morph sooner.

uncommongrafx

10 October 2004, 02:21 AM

Smartmorph could easily do it.
It's like lipservice in the way it manages vertex derformation. Very slick. Very organic.

SplineGod

10 October 2004, 02:35 AM

Id be interested in seeing a test using smartmorph. I like that it can use splines to control the morphs. What Id like to see is if it could morph something like those tentacles based on distance to an object but still keep the diameter of each tentacle constant thru the whole morph. :)

uncommongrafx

10 October 2004, 02:37 AM

Send me a scene, Larry, cuz I'm lazy.

:applause:

Otherwise, I'll try to mock up something.

SplineGod

10 October 2004, 03:46 AM

something simple. See if you can make a secton of something morph up all at once based on distance to a reference object. :)

pooby

10 October 2004, 10:08 AM

Well, if you wanted to exactly keep the diameter, you could smartmorph on an equivalent model of 2 pt poly chains and apply metalink.

But on your test, some start morphing before others.. I dont quite get what you mean.
If you mean the tips start morphing first You can always get around that by projecting an image map down onto the terrain

SplineGod

10 October 2004, 10:55 AM

Thats how I did this but using normal displacement in combination with metalink. Based on the previous posts I was wondering if smartmorph could do this without using the 2 pt poly chains and metalink. :)

pooby

10 October 2004, 12:44 PM

Well, I guess it could if you made inbetween morphs that slightly preceed the full stretch. But this metalink method is always going to be more accurate.

Smartmorph's main advantage is that there are many more parameters and features than Normal displacement to combine and play with. Such as time/offset morphs and the ability to add many different morphs and morph sequences at once and have them interact.

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